“Out of 552 items covered in CPI, 394 items showed an increase in July 2019 as against July 2018. On the contrary, 120 items declined while 38 items were unchanged,” chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement.

Meanwhile, CPI for the period of January to July 2019 registered an increase of 0.3% as compared to the same period last year.

Four states namely Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (2.2%), Penang (2.1%), Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (1.7%) and Johor (1.5%) surpassed the national CPI rate of 1.4% in July 2019 as compared to July 2018. Meanwhile, Negeri Sembilan and Perak showed the same rate of increase as the national CPI.

All states registered increase in the index of food & non-alcoholic beverages. The highest increases were recorded by Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (4.4%), Penang (3.0%), Johor (2.7%) and Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (2.6%) and the increase surpassed the national index of food & non-alcoholic beverages in July 2019.